Bad Day for my Blood Wraiths (BA successor)

[Chaplain Hiltraud]

So I'm posting this because I'm devastated and I would love your insight or any advice you can offer...

 

I entered my first tourney (1500pts) it's a friendly local tourney and the main thing is that we're all having allot of fun! :D

 

I'm running a full JP army consisting of:

 

HQ

Librarian – infernus pistol, force weapon, psychic hood, jump pack. Shield of Sanguinius, Blood Lance.

Honour Guard(x5) – jump packs, 2 meltaguns, 1 power weapon, 3 bolt pistols, Blood Champ has power weapon and combat shield. Sanguinary Noviate has Blood Chalice.

ELITES

Sanguinary Priest – bolt pistol, blood chalice, power sword, jump pack.

Sanguinary Priest – bolt pistol, blood chalice, power sword, jump pack.

TROOPS

Assualt Squad(x10) – jump packs, 2 meltaguns, 7 bolt pistols, 7 chainswords, vet serg has power fist, combat shield, bolt pistol.

Assualt Squad(x10) – jump packs, 2 meltaguns, 7 bolt pistols, 7 chainswords, vet serg has lightning claws.

Assualt Squad(x5) – jump packs, 1 meltagun, 3 bolt pistols, 3 chainswords, serg has infernus pistol, thunder hammer.

FAST ATTACK

Vanguard Veteran Squad (x8) – jump packs, infernus pistol, power fist, thunder hammer, 6 bolt pistols, serg has bolt pistol, power weapon.

 

And don't get me wrong; I made this list not to win but to have fun. And it is loads of up in your face fun!

 

However, all my games seem to finish long before everyone else!

 

The first game I versed a GK army. I was a lil intimidated at first but I quickly got into CC and ended up wiping out the entire army by turn 4 with very minimal loses. FNP I love you! I was :P and everyone thought I was going to be a force to be reckoned with...WRONG

 

Game 2; Orks. Darn Orks. I got into CC very quickly and got absolutely pumped by everything in his army. His HQ of Nobs and Warboss with powerclaws tore through my HQ and 1 assault squad like butter. His boyz tore through the rest. And that was with me charging!! Altough, I was rolling 1's and 2's consistantly. Except when any leadership test came up. AWESOME. My VV did great however and not only tied up a massive unit and some killa kans but also managed to kill a heap of boyz :) However, I got annihilated! and it was all over turn 4.

 

Game 3; DA. This time I deepstriked a unit (seperated into combat squads) of assault marines, and I also deepstriked my VV, Again, the VV did awesome but everything else got wiped out by turn 4. And again, I charged every squad in his army. I assualted them but somehow the DA manage to overwhelm my BA with CC attacks?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! What in the name of the emperor!?!?!?!

 

Anyways, I've got a few more games tomorrow, I'll post how I go. But I expect more of the same! <_<

 

Chaplain Hiltraud

[Skanwy]

Hi Chaplain Hiltraud,

 

I play an all Sanguinary Guard list which is all jump packers as well. I think your poor dice rolls also didn't help ye much.

 

Would you consider removing a Sanguinary Priest and a Vanguard Vet and replacing them with a Jump Pack Chaplain? The Chaplain will give you some re-rolls in case the dice gods strike unkindly again ;)

 

I find that it is always helpful for 2 of your units to engage one of the enemies at a time. This is to ensure that the enemy is significantly reduced in threat. Also get every possible shot in prior to an assault haha!

 

Lastly, if you are amenable to changing part of the list, some long range support (e.g. Devastators with ML) may be beneficial. It does throw off the jump pack theme a bit though.

 

The VV looks like they performed really well! Congrats!

 

All the best for your next battles :)

[JamesI]

I would suggest dropping Blood Lance to get Unleash Rage to get those reroll. Blood Lance and an infernus pistol on the same model is a waste.

[Rybnick]

I agree with James either go only blood lance or infernus pistol w/o lance (I tend to go for Unleashed Rage w/ IP on an assaulty libby, and Blood lance + Shield on a shooty libby).

 

From my experiences w/ an all JP army so far I'd have to say add just a little heavy ranged support really helps out. You can get 2 rifeldreads for 240pts, or a 10 man Dev squad to combat squad w/ 2 ML each for 210 pts. From what I've seen having even that little extra support really helps to keep your jumpers from being roasted while they are in transit to your enemy. If you can get the dreads/devs cover then they should be quite survivable (dev's more so than the dread vs most armies), and should offer some fairly accurate AT (Dreads from what I've seen are much more accurate, rarely do I not hit with at least 3 TLAC shots normally I hit with all 4). It may not be a pure jumper list but it has really helped my JP survivability.

 

I've also noticed that deepstriking everything isn't always the way to go. I usually run with Dante who is a no brainer to DS with, but be sure you support him once he's down. I've had bad luck with VV thus far (despite loving the look of the models) and rarely use them, but they are an excellent combo with Dante's group. Having them tie up whatever pops out of the transport Dante just hopefully slagged and allowing Dante to assault into it next turn.

 

I like that you put PW on your priests, I think that is a smart move. Having that extra PW attack at I5 on the charge can make a big difference on whether or not as many enemies get to swing back at him next turn. It is somewhat underwhelming at I4 though.

[Chaplain Gunzhard]

I would suggest dropping Blood Lance to get Unleash Rage to get those reroll. Blood Lance and an infernus pistol on the same model is a waste.

 

I couldn't agree more. Blood Lance has been a major disappointment for me. It just requires too many rolls. First you roll to pass psychic test. Then you roll for range (4d6" is not that far), then you still roll for wound/AP and then again on vehicle damage chart. I've honestly never had success with it.

 

Unleash Rage on the other hand is probably the best power in our book. Don't forget that you can cast it even when you get assaulted in your opponents turn, or in subsequent turns.

 

I also find Shield of Sang to be a little underwhelming. Most of the time, you can get a normal (4+) cover save, and hopefully you don't spend much time outside of close-combat; if not the 5+ save is just really not that worth it imo.

 

My favorite power is Fear of Darkness. Of course against 'fearless' units/armies it is useless, and I did get stomped by a Khorne CSM army the other day, but otherwise it is truly awesome. My favorite uses for it so far, making heavy weapon units move (so they can't fire) and pushing units off of objectives.

 

I always run two JP assault squads and they are almost near identical to yours, except the squad with LC sarg has 2 flamers instead of meltaguns... don't underestimate dueling flamers; I always end up killing lots with them, even marines. Orks really don't like em. :)

 

In game3 - if you combat squad'd all of your units then likely you were coming at him too piece-meal rather than focused/combined attacks. I wasn't there, but that would be my guess.

 

Anyway, I like your list - it is not that different from my own. :) Best of luck!

[Somar]

that army is a one trick pony.

you have no other options then to get into close combat and if you run into a CC army, then you will be missing the bodies you traded for all those jump packs.

any kind of horde army will give you problems, the cheap troops will deny you good places to DS and leave you no choice as to what to charge, you wipe out a unit and you will be open to shooting and a counter charge.

it is a win big/loose big army.

you would also have problems with real powerhouse characters or monsters, your libbys stats are not all that great and there are plenty of guys out there that are eternal warriors and kill space marines with ease. (abaddon, lysander, trygons, swarm lords, daemon princes, calgar and a few more things like that)

[Rhodric]

I run almost the exact same list and have had a lot of success. I run two 5-man VV squads though with Glaive and SS each. Sometimes I'll add another Storm Shield and LC as needed. VV need to choose their targets wisely. I tend to throw them at uber units (if they have more than 2 x SS) or to tie up threats like Devs or Bikers. I also use them to charge the contents of a vehicle after my RAS squads have opened them up. I can then counter assault with the RAS. The last few games I've played I deep striked everything. If I dropped a RAS squad in, I would then try to get the VV tied up with the closest threat. Getting the charge off on your RAS is huge too. I'm finding the all JP force requires a lot of tactical planning. Making sure you have units to support each other is key. I try to keep my RAS in cover as often as possible until I can get them into assault. If starting on the table I try to keep my RAS close to each other so I can counter charge as needed.

 

I love Shield and Lance on the Libby. Rage is also superb when you really need to put the hurt down on something.

 

I'd also suggest giving your HG one job, Shoot or CC. I tend to keep them Shooty with MGs. This keeps the cost down and allows them to target uber units and those pesky high AV tanks.

 

I would drop the TH from the small RAS squad. I use the same squad, but just with a MG and IF as a suicide type unit. I'd also drop the PWs from the Priests. I use them from time to time, but you could use those points on your VV for LCs or PWs.

 

You may also want to consider adding Hand Flamers to your big RAS sqauds. They can really help with hordes. If you go with a MG equiped HG you could also take one RAS squad and give them 2 x Flamers and a Hand Flamer on the Serg. I've used this a few times and even against marines it's done well.

 

Bad rolls are bad rolls. Unfortunately it happens.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Rho

[Chaplain Hiltraud]

Thanks for the replies and thoughts..

 

Unfortunately, Grandfather Nurgle gave me his blessing this morning and I couldn't make it to the final day :) so there'll be no update.

 

Anyways, if I ever run this again, I'm going to remove the Lib+T/H VV and replace with a Reclusiarch(those pesky DA's keep re-rolling and that's what killed me G3). I'm also going to change a few weapon options in the Assault Squad. I will also change the HG to be all CC (Although, the HG were useless every game for everything. Obviously I don't know how to use them. That and they always seem to be my 'unlucky' unit - The rule for my HG should be 'Special Rolls - Honour Guard and any unit within 12" will roll 1's and 2's for shooting and CC. When rolling for leadership tests, these units will roll 5's and 6's or double 1's'

[Zealadin]

My only comment is the HG, I'd go with the pure shooting, all meltas or plasma guns, or what a few other people have done which is giving them SS so they become a hard unit to kill and can hopefully bog enemy units (particularly the dangerous type) down.

 

People also seem to have good success with the Dev squads because they take attention from your JP squads and can lay down hurt against a variety of units if equipped with ML's.